S Club U.K. Tour Boosts Sales Of Single

English pop seven-piece S Club 7 yesterday (May 20) achieved the extremely rare U.K. chart achievement of returning to No.1 with a single that had fallen from the top. For only the sixth time in the l

English pop seven-piece S Club 7 yesterday (May 20) achieved the extremely rare U.K. chart achievement of returning to No.1 with a single that had fallen from the top. For only the sixth time in the last decade, the feat occurred as the group's Polydor release "Don't Stop Movin'" outsold Geri Halliwell's "It's Raining Men" (EMI) to go back to the peak it held three weeks ago. The resurgence was no doubt buoyed by the start of S Club 7's first U.K tour this weekend.

There was also some good chart news for R.E.M., whose "Reveal" album (Warner Bros.) went straight to No. 1 to become the group's fifth chart-topping set in the U.K. The band's last album, 1998's "Up," peaked at No. 2, beaten out by Robbie Williams' "I've Been Expecting You."

The U.K. singles top-10 also sports a new entry at No. 7 by domestic dance duo Oxide & Neutrino. The pair's "Up Middle Finger" (Oxide/East West) is its third top-10 hit, following the June 2000 No. 1 "Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)" and the No. 6 follow-up, "No Good 4 Me." English pop trio BBMak scored a second top-10 hit at home with the Telstar single "Still On Your Side," which opened at No. 8. Scandinavian popsters A*Teens landed their first U.K. top-10 hit at No. 10 with "Upside Down" (Stockholm/Polydor).

While R.E.M. was securing its latest No. 1 album in the U.K., Bon Jovi's Mercury live album "One Wild Night" came in at No. 2, followed by Geri Halliwell's second EMI solo album "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" at No. 5.

Across Europe, the amazing popularity of "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy featuring Ricardo "Rikrok" Ducent (MCA) extended into a ninth week at No. 1 on Music & Media's Eurochart Hot 100 Singles tally, on which Halliwell's "It's Raining Men" jumped 7-2. There's no change either at the top of the European Top 100 Albums chart, on which Destiny's Child still rules with "Survivor" (Columbia).

In related news, Britain's independent labels are planning to launch their own chart later this year, Billboard Bulletin reports. The Association of Independent Music's (AIM) business development committee is "still very much in the consultation process" about the chart, according to chairman/CEO Alison Wenham, but is likely to launch the sales-based system -- complete with a sponsor -- in September.